The SEBI Grade A Prelims is scheduled to be held on 17th January 2021 with the Mains exam slated for 27th February 2021. The application window is open until 31st Oct 2020. There are 140+ vacancies for which SEBI will recruit across different streams. Candidates who clear both rounds will have to appear for an Interview as well.
In this article, we present you with a week-wise 2 months, SEBI Grade A study plan 2020 which will help you get to the right answer to the ‘how to prepare for SEBI Grade A 2020’ question.
How to Prepare for SEBI Grade A 2020: Exam Pattern & Syllabus
The exam pattern of the SEBI Grade A Questions is highly dependent on the choice of stream. There are two papers with Paper 1 being a comprehensive assessment while Paper 2 is more specific to your particular field of interest as elaborated below. The Prelims is a total of 200 marks with the time allowed being 100 minutes. There is also negative marking of 1/4th of the marks of a correct answer. The exact number of SEBI Grade A questions is not specified.
| Paper | Phase 1 | Marks | Time | Cut off |
Paper 1 | All streams: MCQs on General Awareness [incl. Financial Awareness], English Language, Quantitative Aptitude, Test of Reasoning | 100 marks | 60 minutes | 30% |
Paper 2 | General Stream: MCQ on topics of Commerce, Costing, Accountancy, Management, Finance, Economics and Companies ActORMCQ on Specialized Knowledge of Information Technology/ Legal/ Engineering (Civil & Electrical)/ Official Language streamORResearch Stream: MCQ on topics of Economics, Statistics, Econometrics, Finance and Commerce. | 100 marks | 40 minutes | 40% |
| Total | 200 marks | 100 minutes | 40% |
SEBI Grade A Study Plan 2020
Given below is a week-wise SEBI Grade A study plan 2020 that will aid you in tackling the SEBI Grade A Questions in the right manner.
| Week | SEBI Grade A study plan 2020 Topics | Topics |
| Week 1-2 | Paper 1General Awareness: Current Affairs, Indian Constitution & Polity, Business & Economics Issues, Important Financial Institutions [Domestic & International]English: Reading Comprehension, Sentence Correction, Error Detection, Para-Jumbles, Active & Passive Voice, Cloze Test, Vocabulary etc.Quantitative Aptitude: Ratio & Proportion, Number System, Speed & Distance, Simplification/Approximation, Percentages, Profit & Loss, Average, Inequalities, Linear Equations, Series & Sequences, Probability, Simple & Compound Interest, Ages, Functions, Geometry, Quadratic Equations, Permutation & CombinationReasoning: Coding-Decoding, Clocks, Puzzles, Seating Arrangement, Dates & Calendars, Partnership, Blood Relation, Order & Rankings, Directions, Cause & Effect, Assertion & Reason, Statements & Conclusion, Data Sufficiency | Paper 2Skim through the topics of General Stream, Legal Stream, Information Technology Stream, Engineering Stream, Research Stream and Official Language Stream |
| End of Week 2 | Five Paper 1 Tests | |
| Week 3-4 | Paper 2General Stream [Commerce, Accountancy, A/C Standards, Companies and Shares, Financial Statement Analysis, Nature & Scope or Management, Communication, leadership Theories, Financial System, Financial Markets & instruments, Recent Developments, Tax, Costing, Companies Act, Economics, Demand & Supply, Balance of Payments, NBFC, etc. OR Legal Stream [Constitution of India, Contracts, Criminal Law, Evidence, Torts, Jurisprudence, Code of Civil Procedure, Securities Laws, etc.] OR IT Stream [Database Concepts, SQL Queries, Programming Concepts (Java /C C++ ), Data Analytics Languages (Python /R)] OR Engineering Stream [Civil (Building Materials, Solid Mechanics, Structural Analysis, Design of Steel Structures, Design of Concrete and Masonry structures, Flow of Fluids, Hydraulic Machines and Hydro Power, Environmental Engineering OR Electrical Engineering (Electrical Materials, Electric Circuits and Fields, Electrical and Electronic Measurements, Computer Fundamentals, Basic Electronics Engineering, Analog and Digital Electronics, Control Systems] OR Research Stream [Economics, Public Economics] OR Official Language Stream [Official Language Policy of the Govt. of India, Translation of Terms / Phrases / Sentences] | |
| End of Week 4 | Two Paper 1 Tests + Three Paper 2 Tests + 1 Full-Length Mock Test [You can alternate as per your suitability] | |
| Week 5-6 | Paper 2General Stream [Share Capital Transactions, Employees Stock Option and Buy-Back of Securities, Human Resource Development, Motivation, Derivatives, Financial Inclusion, Inflation, Fiscal Policy, Six Sigma, Kaizen, Process Innovation] OR Legal Stream [Administrative Law and Principles of Natural Justice, Companies Act, 2013, Securities Laws, Important Latin terms and maxims, Arbitration and Conciliation Act] OR IT Stream [Algorithms for problem-solving, Networking Concepts, Data warehousing, Shell Programming, Cyber Security] OR Engineering Stream [Civil (Construction Practice, Planning and Management, Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering, Geo-technical Engineering and Foundation Engineering, Foundation Engineering, Surveying and Geology, Transportation Engineering) OR Electrical Engg (Systems and Signal Processing, Electrical Machines, Power Systems, Power Electronics and Drives)] OR Research Stream [Statistics & Econometrics, International Economics] OR Official Language Stream [Legal Terminology, Administrative / Banking / Capital Market Terminology] | |
| End of Week 6 | One Paper 1 Tests + Six Paper 2 Tests + 1 Full-Length Mock Test [You can alternate as per your suitability] | |
| Week 7 | Revise Paper 1 [Current Affairs, Indian Constitution & Polity, Business & Economics, etc., Reading Comprehension, English Grammar, Quantitative Aptitude especially Number System, Probability, Linear Equations, Reasoning especially Coding-Decoding, Puzzles, Syllogism] Revise Paper 2 General Stream [Accounting Fundamentals, A/C Standards, Nature & Scope or Management, Communication, Financial System, Financial Markets & Instruments, Recent Developments, Tax, Costing, Companies Act, Demand & Supply, Balance of Payments OR Legal Stream [Constitution of India, Contracts, Important Latin terms and maxims]OR IT Stream [Database Concepts, SQL Queries, Programming Concepts (Java /C C++ Cyber Security), OR Engg Stream [Civil (Building Materials, Solid Mechanics, Flow of Fluids, Construction Practice) OR Electrical (Systems and Signal Processing, Electrical Machines, Power Systems, Electrical Materials, Computer Fundamentals]OR Research Stream [Economics, Statistics & Econometrics]OR Official Language Stream [Official Language Policy of the Govt. of India, Translation of Terms / Phrases / Sentences, Legal Terminology] | |
| Week 8 | Revisit your notes and SEBI Grade A exam preparation books for all the previous weeks.Refresh important formulae and exam strategies.Do not delve into new topics now. Attempt one and if possible two full-length rigorously timed mock tests every day for three days only, i.e., only until Day 3 of Week 8. Leave it after that. | |
| Day Before Exam | Revise important topics and exam strategies.Skim through your notes and SEBI Grade A exam preparation books. | |
| Exam Day | All sights on the exam |
How to Prepare for SEBI Grade A 2020: Key Takeaways
- Important SEBI Grade A exam preparation books: Banking Awareness Handbook of Banking Information, Objective General English by R. S. Aggarwal and Vikas Aggarwal, English for Bank Exams by S. Chand Publishing, Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by RS Aggarwal/ S Chand Publishing, Indian Economy – Gaurav Datt and Ashwani Mahajan, Principles of Management by Harold Koontz
- Time Management: You have 60 minutes for Paper 1 [100 marks] and 40 minutes for Paper 2 [100 marks]. The general difficulty level across the years is moderate-difficult.
- Strategy: Have an objective of marking 60-70% of the SEBI Grade A questions with 100% accuracy. Refrain from blind guesswork.
The right way to answer the ‘How to Prepare for SEBI Grade A 2020’ question is to remain calm and composed, stick to the guidelines of the SEBI Grade A exam preparation books and being confident. All the best.